


Frostbite

by bunchesofcats



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Other, Reveal Fic, and apparently all my writing skills too, and its a shameless, have fun fellows sinners, honestly i give my whole heart to this fandom, i'm not going to lie I got this idea from the snugglebug fic, it was just too cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6412054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunchesofcats/pseuds/bunchesofcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cold and Ladybugs don't mix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There were a few things that had been brought to Marinette's attention in the last fifteen minutes. 

1)She really, truly, completely, hopelessly was a total klutz. Even when transformed in Ladybug, who was much more suave than she could ever hope to be in normal life, she still retained her clumsy nature, though it was thankfully toned down a considerable degree. So when the akumatized person she'd been fighting had shoved into her at just the right angle, she'd lost her footing and when tumbling backwards into a corner of the frozen over ice rink they were in, bumping her head hard against it. The hit had dazed her, and before she could react, the ice villain had encased her in a dome of ice and snow. She was a Ladybug Snow Globe now. She heard Chat call her name, and then there was his blurry face on the other side of her prison.

"Don't worry, my lady, I'll get you out of there!" he said, raising his hand, preparing to use his cataclysm.

"Chat!" she cried, "Look out!" Before he could activate his power, Icicle, or whatever Papillon had named his latest victim, had raised her hand to encase Chat Noir in his own snow globe. She'd managed to warn her partner just in time, however, and he jumped safely out of the way of the blast, which, naturally, only added a new layer of ice to the wall that had her surrounded. 

It was somewhere around then that Marinette was hit with another realization.

2) She'd be stuck right where she was until Chat Noir could get a moment to use his power and get her out of her current predicament. Given that it was Chat she was relying on, and that the girl they'd been fighting had managed to slip past them for the last half hour, Marinette assumed it would be a while, she she planned on getting comfortable. Thank God she hadn't used her Lucky Charm yet. She huffed out a nervous breath, watching as it formed a cloud in front of her. She didn't like it, but Marinette was nothing if not patient; she did have to deal with mega-bitch Chloe every day, after all. 

But it was as the minutes slowly passed and shivers began to wrack her body that Marinette realized her third and final problem:

3) It was **cold**. Unbelievably, unbearably, cold. She vaguely remembered a conversation she'd had with Tikki weeks ago, when fall had begun to set in and she was met with a chill she didn't remember being that harsh.

"You're going to have to be careful, Marinette," her kwami had told her, "you're going to be much more susceptible to colder temperatures now, and you'll want to hibernate if it gets cold, like a ladybug. But if your body temperature gets too low, it'll try to shut down."

Back then, a jacket had been the only thing she'd needed to fix the problem, but now, she had nothing of the sort. She willed Chat to hurry as her body began to curl in on itself, desperate for whatever warmth it could generate. 

As time continued to crawl on, the young heroine was finding it more and more difficult to keep her eyes open, and her shivers became increasingly more violent. She wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. In her chill-numb mind a thought flashed by. It was risky, but it would also be the best chance she had at this point. So it was with nothing less than desperation that she uncurled herself as best she could and lifted up her yoyo, hand shaking. 

"L-lucky ch-charm," she stuttered quietly, squinting against the light activating her power had caused. From the burst of light fell a blanket, and she almost cried for joy. It honestly didn't look like much, but it was much better than freezing her ass off with nothing. She curled back into her fetal position and she pulled the polka-dotted blanket over herself. 

She didn't really know how much time had passed after that, but she guessed it couldn't have been more than five minutes when she heard a muffled, yet familiar voice from outside the ice. 

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir called, finally getting a chance to rake his claws down the dome of ice covering his partner. It shattered around him, and revealed his favorite partner. "Ladybug!"

She lifted her head slowly, blinking her sapphire eyes and gazing around the room. 

"Chat," she all but whispered, pulling the blanket begrudgingly off her shoulders, "the tiara, use this." He took it, first confused, but as he looked around the room, he understood was she was planning. As Ice Queen slid back into view, Chat whipped out the blanket, catching her around the ankle and pulling her off balance from her own ice path. As the temporary villain went down, Chat dove for the delicate tiara that sat on her head, tossing it towards Ladybug. She barely caught it, and threw it to the ground shattering it and releasing the akuma. Before it could get away, she grabbed it with her yoyo, purifying it and setting the white butterfly free. 

_There_ , she thought to herself, still thoroughly chilled, _the hard part was over_. As Chat handed her back the blanket she threw it in the air, shouting her traditional 'Miraculous Ladybug!,' and setting the magical energy to fix the harm that had been done this time. She, however, didn't get to see everything turn back to normal, as the world was suddenly teetering around her. 

Chat had turned to give her a smile and hold out his hand for their usual post-win fist bump, but instead what he saw was is strong, wonderful partner fall to the ground as the ice rink around them fixed itself, curling in on herself as a pale, quivering ball.

"Ladybug!" he cried, diving for her, pulling her into his lap as he knelt down to hold her. 

Her breathing was shallow and fast, she was shaking like a leaf, and her skin was so pale. He just about lost it when she lolled her head towards him, her eyes half-lidded and distant, and her mouth a worrying shade of blue. 

"N-need," she chattered out, "w-w-warmth." He nodded quickly, worry filling his face as he carefully laced his arms under her knees and at her back. He carried her away from the chilled air of the rink and into a room off to the side - a guest viewing room, or maybe it was a party room? It didn't matter to him right then. He'd noticed it earlier because of the odd mirrors that lined it floor to ceiling. It had been double sided. 

As he burst into it and locked the door, he set about finding a way to warm up his lady, blessing whatever deity above that people had left their jackets there. Chat quickly began bundling Ladybug in them, pulling her close to him when he was done in hopes to further warm her with his own abnormally high body heat. His ring had started beeping while he was holding her, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was that Ladybug would be alright. 

Ladybug's earrings had also begun to signal the limit of their use, but she was too tired to care. She was finally surround in warmth, and she really was so tired, and sleep just seemed like the best option, consequences be damned. She she let them beep away, and snuggled further into whatever was holding her up. She could deal with this later, when she was awake, and not chilled to the bone, and not so sleepy. So she closed her eyes and let sleep take her. 

It was just after he detransformed that he noticed Ladybug's lack of consciousness. He began to panic. He couldn't remember if it was bad to let her sleep when someone was too cold. What if she didn't wake up? Not only that, but she had minutes, no, seconds, before she dropped her own transformation, and she was the one that had wanted their identities secret in the first place. This wasn't the way he wanted to find out who she was, but he couldn't just leave her there all alone, especially not after she had pushed herself further into him. So despite the consequences, his lady needed him, and as she began to glow pink and lose her disguise, Adrien too a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

_Okay Agreste_ , he thought as a flash of light danced behind his eyelids, _on the count of three._

1...

2....

3. __

He opened his eyes slowly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the bug wakes up, and things are said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this is like, way late, and I'm so sorry for the wait. When I started this it was a spur of the moment thing, it was the first story I'd ever posted to AO3, and it was right before a huge festival, of which I was a vendor. As should have been expected, making merchandise for said festival kind of consumed my life, so sadly the story had to be put on the back burner for a little bit. Then it seemed like, after the festival was over, I was slapped in the face with a good ole case of Writer's Block (TM). But, I powered through it, and here we are! So enjoy, and don't be afraid to tell me what you think when you're done!

Her eyes didn't want to open. She knew she'd probably be late for school, but her bed was just so warm and cozy and she couldn't bring herself to get up right then. So instead, Marinette shifted her position against her cat pillow and mumbled a request of five more minutes to no one in particular. 

"Marinette," her father called, shaking her lightly. She hummed and shook her head. 

"Not yet Papa," she muttered, curling more into herself.

"Marinette, please wake up," he said again, and as she became more aware of her surroundings, she heard clear worry in a voice that was now distinctly **not** her papa's and distinctly **sounded** like someone else's that she dared not think about. She sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was wrapped up in jackets, not her duvet, and was in a room that was now most definitely not her's. She wracked her brain for an explanation, and remembered the latest Akuma attack. 

Ok, so she was still at the ice-rink, not in her bedroom. She was wrapped, not in her fluffy comforter, but in jackets. So it wasn't her cat pillow behind her, it was...

Oh Christ please no.

She sat up quickly, expecting to see a very worried Chat behind her, but instead she was surprised to see, sitting behind her with a worried look on his beautiful, perfect face, was Adrien, his green eyes wide and his brow set with concern. Marinette could feel her face heating up, but before she could let loose her usual tumble of stuttered words that somehow dictated every conversation she had with him, he said something that surprised her. 

"Marinette, I'm so sorry," he said, guilt pouring out of his face. Had he always been such an open book?

"Adrien?" she asked, the worry getting to her too, "What do you mean? What happened?" She regretted the words as soon as they'd left her mouth once she saw the way his face crumbled. 

"You were just so pale and your lips were so blue and you wouldn't stop shivering and my ring was beeping but I didn't care because you were losing consciousness and I was so scared and then your earrings started beeping but I couldn't just leave you alone like that," he rambled on, making slight hand gestures and talking with his whole body in a way that was eerily familiar to her, "and I'm sorry." 

Marinette stared at him, confusion etched into her brow, but slowly the pieces began to come together. 

She realized two things then in the ten seconds of silence. 

1) Adrien knew she was Ladybug.

2) But given the way he was talking, and where they were, and how completely and undeniably familiar his gestures were to her, that could only mean that Adrien Agreste, of all people was-

"Chat?" she almost whispered, and for both of them it felt like the world had stopped as he hung his head and nodded. Her heart almost stopped for a moment as the thoughts raced through her head. This wasn't how she wanted to do this. She wasn't even sure if she _ever_ wanted to do this. 

"I'm so sorry," Adrien said for a third time, bringing Marinette out of her thoughts just long enough to see how upset he was over the matter, "I know you wanted it to stay a secret." Marinette closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She made a decision.

When she opened her eyes again, they were softer, calmer, and she placed a reassuring hand on Chat's - Adrien's shoulder. 

"Hey, Adrien," she said, causing him to look up at her, attention undivided. She gave him a gentle smile. "It's alright, I understand. I'm glad you stayed." And they both knew then that she meant it entirely. 

It was all of two seconds before Adrien pulled Marinette into him, wrappin his arms around her.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" he cried into her shoulder. She sat, startled for a moment at the motion, unprepared for the hug, and thus catching her off guard. But once the shock wore off, and once she fought down the faint blush that had begun to creep up her face, she allowed herself to relax and return the hug. Alya would be proud. 

They sat like that for a few moments, Adrien releasing all of his worry and Marienette rubbing small circles on his back and offering quiet comfort and reassurance. When he finally did pull away he was much calmer, and he took a deep breath before grinning.

"Guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh princess?" he asked. Marinette stared at him, open-mouthed, before throwing her head back and groaning, shoving him with one hand. 

"No! That was terrible, and overused! Take it back!" she cried, burying her face in her hands, "Am I going to have to deal with these all the time now? Because if so I literally refuse." He laughed.

"What's wrong my lady? Are the puns too _paw_ -some for you? Would you _purr_ -fer I tone it down?" he continued.

"Boo," was the muffled response he received from the dark-haired girl. 

"Do you know how long he's been waiting to use that one?" a sarcastic voice called from a discarded jacket in a chair. The two teens glanced over, where a very comfortable Plagg was bundled up in the jacket.

"Your kwami?" Marinette asked. Adrien nodded in reply.

"Yeah, that's Plagg. He's an asshole," he said. The black kwami just hummed and shrugged. Marinette smiled at the interaction. The two of them were absolutely nothing like her and Tikki.

Wait.

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed, jumping up.

"I'm here Marinette," came a feeble voice from the same jacket, "I'm alright."

"Oh Tikki," the girl said, moving towards the jacket. "I'm so sorry." She scooped the kwami up in her hands, taking notice that her spotted friend was not floating for once.

"I'll be ok," the kwami answered, "it certainly was one of the less fun ones, but it's not like it hasn't happened before." 

Regardless of reassurance, Marinette found her bag next to Adrien's and pulled out a bag of cookies, handing one to Tikki, who took it gratefully. 

"Why can't we be like that?" Adrien asked Plagg, who had floated over to him after Tikki's vacancy. 

"I don't love you like she does," the cat answered, deadpan.

"I knew it."

"Are you two done?" Marinette asked with amusement, satisfied Tikki was ok. Adrien smiled and nodded. 

"So, now we know," he said, as she sat cross-legged next to him. She hummed a response, an emotion he couldn't read flashing across her face. "Marinette? You alright?" she sighed.

"You aren't...disappointed?" she asked was a slight cringe.

"What? No," he answered, placing a hand on her, "Suprised? Hell yeah. But disappointed? That's the complete opposite of what I am. I couldn't be more relieved. I can't think of anyone better for it." Marinette was nearly taken aback by the sincerity of his words. 

"Y-you really think that?" she asked, a blush finally creeping across her face despite her best efforts. 

"Oh course I do!" he exclaimed in answer, "Marinette you're amazing, with or without Ladybug."

Now it was Adrien's turn to be surprised as Marinette leapt forward, throwing her arms around his neck as he had done to her previously, pulling him closer to her.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Adrien felt his own face heat up.

"Oh, uh, you're welcome," he replied, not quite sure how to respond when he was the one receiving the hug, and not the other way around. Not to mention how rare and strange it was to him that such a sudden burst of emotion was coming from his usually quiet and shy classmate. 

Marinette, meanwhil, seemed to realize her own actions, and fell backwards away from the model, her face nearly the same shade of pink as his own.

"Oh god, I'm," she began, scrambling for the words, "I'm sorry so...no, wait-sorry I'm - wait no - I'm -" 

She was interrupted by Adrien holding up a hand and laughing, the shock gradually wearing off.

"It's ok Mari," he assured her, "you just caught me off guard." Marinette smiled sheepishly, and a giggle of her own fell from her lips. 

"Ok, how about we make a deal?" she offered, after they both were done laughing.

"I'm all ears," Adrien replied, mimicking the cat ears that were usually on his head, a cheeky smile on his face. Marientte rolled her eyes and kept going.

"How about we stop being sorry for stupid things, and just talk to each other like normal people?" she asked, and for the life of her, the smile that boy gave her once she'd said it made the idea, and honestly this whole ordeal, worth it. 

He was going to be the death of her.

"You know what?" he said, holding out his hand to hers, "I like it." Marinette smiled and took his hand, and the two proceeded to talk about anything and everything they could think of while their kwamis recharged. 

They both went home that night smiling and ready for the new day that awaited them.

As Adrien sat back on his bed, he thought of Marinette - the pretty, sweet, shy girl he had slowly gotten to know throughout the year. He thought back to his very first fight with his Lady, and the promise he'd made to himself back then - he'd love whoever was under that mask. Now, he was even more determined to keep that promise than he had ever been before.

Marinette also thought about Adrien, and the crush she'd had on him for so long now. The same quiet, somewhat sad boy she'd pined over all this time was also her carefree, spontaneous partner that she'd grown so close to. 

She sat back in her desk chair, idly spinning around before coming to rest facing the wall she'd practically enshrined to him since that say he'd given her that damn umbrella. She sighed, biting her lip, thinking. The young superheroine sat like that for a few minutes, contemplating, then, with another sigh of finality, stood up, walking towards the wall and beginning her work. 

When she finally turned in for the night, she gave a final look at the wall, now bare of any pictures.

And she slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be afraid, this isn't the end. All will be explained in chapter three. Think you can hold on to your imaginations until then? Until next time <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette talks to Alya, Alya is incredibly proud, and Adrien is a huge dork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came much quicker than the last one, and while it is a little shorter, I hope it is just as good!

Adrien woke up the next morning practically buzzing with excitement to go to school. It was as though the world was new to him and everything was a shining beacon of splendor. And all because of her.

He knew who his lady was. He knew who his lady was and she went to his school. He knew who his lady was, she went to his school, **and** she sat just behind him everyday!

Nothing could bring down his spirits now, and to hell with anything that tried.

He practically skipped around the mansion, a huge, goofy grin plastered to his face that showed no intention of going anywhere. Instead of using the stairs, he slid down the banister, hopping off at the end and practically dancing around his father's assistant. 

"Good morning, Nathalie," he sang, the same bright look on his face. "You look fantastic today! Did you change your hair?" Nathalie regarded him with a guarded expression and a raised brow.

"No," she began, venturing carefully, "I didn't. And what about you Adrien? Are you feeling alright today?" The boy nodded quickly, his laughter filling the space of the large foyer. 

"Of course I'm alright, Nathalie!" he sang once more, "I'm better than alright, I'm fantastic! What makes you think otherwise?" Nathalie began searching in her head for words to explain her suspicions without also making the young model suspicious. 

"You just seem..." Energetic, bouncy, like a lovesick puppy, like perhaps the sun has never shone for you until today, "unusually chipper today." Ah well. That would do. Adrien paused for a moment, which was perhaps the first moment he'd done so since he jumped out of the bed that morning, seemingly contemplating her words, before turning to look at her completely, a fresh, sunny expression lighting up his face once more.

"It's just a beautiful day Nathalie!" he answered her, throwing open the doors and skipping to the car. "Such a beautiful day indeed."

Marinette, meanwhile, for the first time in that semester, was not only on time for class, she was **early**. So when Alya walked into the class, fifteen minutes before the bell as usual, and saw her best friend quietly sitting at their shared desk with her nose in her sketchbook, obviously having gotten there before her, she knew something was up. She raced up the steps, practically throwing her bags into her seat before slamming her hands on the table, her reporter face on and ready. 

"Spill," she said, causing the dark-haired girl sitting in front of her to look up. 

"Good morning Alya," she said simply, causing her friend to groan.

"Good morning, now spill!" she said again. For one long, agonizing moment, Marinette simply looked quietly at her best friend, but Alya knew the look that the other girl sported, and she knew it well. This was about Adrien. Finally Marinette sighed, and began to speak.

"It's about Adrien." She fucking knew it. "We kind of got to talk, during the akuma attack yesterday. Alya I actually talked to him, I didn't even stutter once, you'd have been so proud of me." She was. Oh she was so proud. "But I realized something." Oh no.

"What is it? Are you ok?" the young reporter asked, sitting down after unceremoniously pushing her things out of her seat. 

"Oh, no!" Mari began, "I'm fine. Really I am. It's just...talking to Adrien yesterday...I realized that all I've done for all this time is just put him on a pedestal. Like of course I'd never be able to talk to him, I'd practically declared him untouchable. And yesterday, we were so comfortable with each other, just talking, and it was so nice, and I guess I just kind of realized that Adrien's a person. He's just a person like me, not a god among men for me to worship."

Alya sat looking at her best friend, shock on her face. However, it seemed she'd waited too long to reply, because Marinette was talking again.

"So I've decided that as of last night, I will treat Adrien like a person, because that's only fair to both of us," she added, "don't you think?" Marinette had barely gotten the last word out before Alya had squealed, pulling the other girl in close for a tight hug. 

"I'm so proud of you!" she cried, causing Marinette to laugh.

Adrien walked in to class with Nino, still absolutely glowing, much to his best friend's confusion, to Alya squeezing Marinette while the latter girl laughed. He stopped. He'd never heard her laugh like _that_ before. He was absolutely starstruck by that laugh, and overcome with a desire to be the one that made her laugh like that.

Nino meanwhile, turned his look from Adrien to his girlfriend, who responded in kind with a look that ensured him she's explain everything later. 

When Alya finally let go of Marinette, Adrien sat down, turning around in his seat and flashing her what at this point could only be described as a smile of pure sunshine.

"Why good morning Marinette!" he exclaimed, resting his chin on his palm. He'd sounded so happy, and just looked so bright that Marinette laughed again.

"Good morning Adrien!" she exclaimed back, trying to match him in his brightness. Alya's jaw dropped as she realized her friend was actually serious about this. Marinette hadn't fumbled with her words once! And that was a full sentence!

Adrien was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the bell. He raised his hand when his name was called for the roll, only to quickly turn around again to face his lady.

"Can I come over after school today?" he asked quietly, causing his best friend to turn and stare at him. Marinette smiled, and Adrien could have sworn he'd seen stars twinkle in her eyes - no - her eyes put stars to shame. 

"That sounds great!" she answered, and Adrien was sure his heart would beat out of his chest.

She'd said yes!

"Ok," he said, a new, goofy grin on his face, "Great."

The look their best friends sent to each other, however, went completely unnoticed by the pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, until next time, have fun!


	4. *UPDATE*

Hey guys so I hate to say this, but this fic is going to be on a much longer hiatus than I intended. Life kind of smacked me in the face since the last time I updated, and this year has just been crazy for me. Between two different job changes, moving out for the first time, and getting engaged and planning a wedding, this fic has sadly been in the back of my mind, and I currently still lack motivation for it. My brain has moved on to other fandoms. I'm not sure if I will come back to this fic or not, but until I know for sure, I'll just go ahead and say that this is going to be a long (hopefully not endless) hiatus. Thank you for your patience, and I hope to get back to you soon!


End file.
